Creating good food isn’t about being fancy. It’s about doing the basic things well.
Take a moment to consider some of the most successful food entrepreneurs (or fentrepreneurs) in the city. Pizza Pilgrims was started by two brothers who took a ‘pilgrimage’ to discover the true art of pizza making and have made a success of it because they got the fundamentals right. My oft referenced Parlour in Kensal Rise are masters of simplicity and rank among the best restaurants in London because of it.
Honest Burgers, founded by Tom Barton and Philip Eeles in 2010, can also be grateful to the effectiveness of ‘simple done well’.
Unsure of what to do after finishing their degrees at university, Phil suggested they should go at it alone in the restaurant business and soon after, the pair bought a small marquee and started serving responsibly sourced burgers at festivals and markets. After great feedback from hungry festival goers they pulled together a capital and signed a lease on a small unit in Brixton Village, where the first branch of Honest still stands today.
The Honest ethos? To do one thing and do it well.
Today, the company has opened its 15th restaurant in South Kensington and employs over three hundred people. From the very beginning to the present day, the menu and concept has never changed. Honest Burgers has invested in making their produce even better and continues to invest back into development.
So how do they do it? Well, let’s start with the beef.
The chips make a good burger joint, and Honest Burgers have them nailed! Watch how they do it:
And where best to find all this out? Well, at their own house of course! Here’s a video of the Honest Burger Summer BBQ. It looks epic!